Strange Days
by Fabius Maximus
Summary: Claire got the trolls out of Trollmarket-but now she has to get herself back to Arcadia. Post Season 1 for Trollhunter, Post Doctor Strange and Homecoming for the MCU. Note that a variety of MCU characters will be making an appearance.
1. Chapter 1

Claire was dying. She knew it. The pain of opening the portal, the agony that was crawling across her body felt like she was both burning alive and freezing to death. Jim, Toby, Blinky, Not-Enrique, Arrrggghhh… She couldn't feel them. Couldn't feel their presence anymore. She was alone, everything that she was being ripped away from her.

Then there was light.

Darkness.

Wind…

And her slamming into the hard… _wooden floor?_ The staff went flying away to who knew where and Claire just lay on the floor. Her entire _body_ ached worse than it ever had—worse than after she'd almost been killed by Angor Rot. She tried to say something but only a whimper escaped her lips.

"You're lucky to be alive, after coming through the wards like that."

A voice. Male. Claire didn't know who it was. She rolled onto her side, gasping in pain. She could feel dampness around her eyes and nose and mouth. The taste.

Blood. Looking up, blinking at the light, she realized she was at the bottom of a flight of stairs.

There was a cloaked man, who was… _floating_ down the stairs. Who could he—She tried to rise, failed, fell, a moan pulled from her by the pain.

"Hold still," he said in a calm voice. "That was a hard impact, and you may have internal injuries."

Glowing, golden symbols swirled around. Moments later, the man sighed. "Well, good news—no brain injuries, no critical injuries, just one big full body bruise." Then his voice became firmer. "Oh, then there's the fact that you almost killed yourself with a dark artifact. Care to tell me where you got it?" He was lifting her, carrying her like a child, floating up the stairs.

Claire's head lolled against his chest. "Gotta… Gotta go, save…"

"Save who?"

"M-friends. Gunmar, the other trolls, have to help 'em escape."

"You're not saving anyone for the next couple of days." Claire felt herself falling into darkness.

"Wh-you?" she murmured, the effort taking the last of her energy.

"Dr. Stephen Strange, young lady."

* * *

When Claire woke up, she realized two things. First, she was feeling better. Secondly, she was in bed, in a night gown…

In a _night gown? Had that gu—_ Claire shot up,and moaned, a lancing pain running through her body.

"Hang on, young lady, not so fast."

Claire blinked and looked up. It wasn't the "Doctor Strange" she'd seen first. It was a woman, who looked a little bit like Jim's mother. "Who?"

"I'm Doctor Christine Palmer. Don't worry, _I_ was the one who changed you. Stephen has run you through a check for magical issues, but right now, I'm going to run you through some reflex and cognitive tests. Okay?"

"I…" Claire nodded.

"Okay, now, What's your name?"

"Claire Nunez."

"Good, now lets talk about your family…"

For the next several minutes, Claire was quizzed, while there were also tests for her reflexes and coordination. Finally, Christine smiled and gestured towards the closet. "There are clothes for you there, but good news, you look like you're fine—just a headache from a knock on the noggin and a fall onto a very hard floor."

"How—do you know how I got here?"

Christine smiled. "I leave _that_ end of things for Stephen."

Claire nodded, but waited until Christine had left before she dressed.

It was then that she realized it was gone. The Shadow Staff was _gone!_ Claire didn't hesitate, bursting out of the room, looking around a floor that looked like a cross between a museum and mansion. Sitting a little ways away was Strange and Christine, talking softly.

"Wh-where is it!" Claire cried out, angry at how her voice was wavering. _If I lose it, I won_ _'_ _t be able to help them…_

"The staff? Safe. Safer than it was." Strange frowned at her. "That is an _extraordinarily_ dangerous artifact. How did you get it?"

"You know about ma—you said something about wards. Who are you?"

"Well, short form? I'm the magical protector of the world. While that involves a fair amount of oddities, It usually doesn't see non-existent young women fall onto my floor."

"Wh- _What_ do you mean, _non-existent_."

 _"_ Claire…" Christine said quietly. "When Stephen called me, the first thing we did was check your ID so we could get in contact with your parents."

"You called mom and dad?" _I am dead. I am so dead_ _…_

"No. We tried to," Christine said. "But we couldn't because…"

"Because there is no Arcadia. Not in that part of California. This is an earth Claire. It's not _your_ Earth." Strange frowned at her. "Now, I'm going to _try_ help you get back, but first, I want you to tell me how you got that staff. Why a 16-year-old girl is fighting…"

"I—Not my world?" Claire looked around and sat down on a bench.

"Here." Strange pressed a steaming cup into her hands.

"Thanks," she gulped it down, feeling calmer as the fluid trickled down her throat. "Okay… I'm part of a group. Jim, Toby, Blinky, and Arrrggghhh…"

It took almost an hour for her to finish her story, Strange occasionally asking probing questions. Finally, he nodded. "So, you took the staff from this Angor Rot… that explains partially why you can use it. Magical items tend to have a well, ego of their own. You proved worthy of it."

"So can I have it back? I need to get back to my friends."

"Not yet. You see, possession may be 9/10ths of the law, but that last 10th? Pretty important magically. The staff is dangerous and my scans of you showed that your mind is just sitting open to _all_ sorts of malign influences, likely because of the stress you put yourself through. Then there's the minor fact that I bet you have no idea how to get back."

Claire closed her eyes. "I—no." She said. _Enrique, so soon after I got him home. Mom, Dad_ _…_ Claire sniffed and angrily dragged an arm across her face.

"Well, Stephen, one thing that being a sorcerer hasn't changed is your bedside manner." Christine got up and walked over to Claire. "Honey, we're not saying you can't go home ever, but that you can't go home _right now_. Stephen was just about to _explain it,_ aren't you, Doctor Strange?"

"Right. Claire, the problem is that sending you back isn't like a spell you can just rattle off and be safe with. You have to know how to get back, you have to be able to protect yourself. I'm not even certain _how_ you breached the barrier. That'll take time. Also, I wasn't kidding about the staff. If you keep using it…" He shook his head. "Bad things. On the other hand, someone without any talent couldn't have used it at all. I can help teach you what you need to know."

"You mean… Magic?"

Strange's smile was wistful. "As my old teacher would have said… _Magic_ is the easy part."


	2. Education and Danger

"The first thing we need to do is to get you a place to stay while Stephen works on getting you home and training you," Christine said.

"I can't stay here?" Claire looked around the big house, full of artifacts. There was a buzzing in her ears, a feeling that things were just _calling_ to her.

"You'll be spending some time here, some time at Kamar-Taj, but on the whole, things here can be dangerous and I sometimes have duties that it would be unwise for you to be here for."

Claire opened her mouth—

"And," Christine said. "People might wonder why a middle-aged, _single_ man suddenly had an attractive teen living in his building with no good excuse."

Claire's face turned red. "So where will I be staying?"

"With me. I have a spare bedroom."

"And, it makes it easier to put you into the school system—"

"School system? I have to get back now!"

"And you will, but it will take time, and we don't want to deal with truant officers," Christine told her.

"I—okay," Claire said. _How long will I be here_?

"There's some good news about that," Strange told her, almost as if he was reading your mind. "Your world and our world's timelines are different. We may be able to use that when we send you back."

"That's… Like less time passes there than here?" Claire asked.

"Smart kid," Strange said. "Christine bought some clothes for you—check and make certain that they're all you'll need for now."

Claire nodded, and hurried for the bedroom. For a moment she paused. Had his cloak… _waved_ at her?

* * *

"Can you send her back?" Christine asked.

Strange sat down, and put his head in his hands for a moment. "Possibly. But it will take a while. She almost died coming through. I'll need to find a way to shield her and…"

"What?"

"Train her. She's not like me. She isn't going to have to have someone pound magic into her head. She's already open to it—too open. She needs training."

"And the school?" Christine had been surprised that Stephen had brought that up.

"Possible isn't certain, Christine. If I can't find a way for her to go back, well, I'd prefer that she have some social life to fall back on. Just training her in the mystic arts, and then telling her she can't go back…" He shook his head. "I'd really prefer to not create my own Kaecilius."

* * *

 **Kamar-Taj**

"She is skilled." Wong gestured at Claire, practicing with the other apprentices. "There is what, a week left until she starts school and she has been here nearly every waking moment."

"She's good. She didn't have my block—of not believing in magic."

"Yes, so fortunate we do not have to strand her at the top of Mt. Everest."

Strange gave Wong a sidelong look."Very dedicated. She's been asking to see the more advanced books, but…"

"You fear the risk?"

"I fear that she may try to get home before she's ready," Strange said.

"Exact a promise from her." Wong gestured. "I believe she would keep it."

"Yes, but would that be fair…" Strange looked down at his hands. Shaking his head, he sighed. "I'll talk with her."

* * *

Claire was studying in the library, books piled high around her. She'd done her best to learn the language, but other students had also provided notations in various notebooks and circulating tomes, helping her interpret the information.

"I wonder if the mirror realm is close to the shadow realm." Claire had studied that, even entered it, albeit with another, more experienced mage in attendance, but it really didn't seem similar. The closest thing to her shadow dimension was something called the dark dimension—but the information looked like it had been censored, and what there was had warning after warning attached to it.

"Working late, I see," Stephen said as he came into the library. Claire started, looking around.

"Hi, Dr. Strange," she said. "If I have to go back to school, I'm going to run out of time to do as much work as I need to…"

"You can study most of this in New York. The higher arts would need Wong or another master supervising you in any case, and if you really _need_ to get here…" Strange gestured at the sling ring Claire had secured on a necklace.

"I could just stay…"

"No." Strange sat down by her. "A big danger for our type is becoming too separated from the everyday world. We wield godlike powers. Make life and death decisions and if we isolate ourselves… Well, it didn't work out well for me."

"As a wizard?"

Strange laughed. "As a neurosurgeon. Playing God comes in a lot of flavors."

"I… Yeah. Jim, Toby and I, sometimes it felt like we weren't even in the same world."

"Tell them."

"Who?"

"Your parents, when you get back. Tell them. They don't deserve to be left out of this, and _you three_ don't deserve to be left shouldering the burden alone. I wish I could give you more advice, but our trolls… Well, they don't appear to be the same. Promise me that."

"Okay." Claire paused. "And this will make me happy in history class?"

Strange smiled at Clair. "If you're anything like me, _nothing_ will make you happy in history class. I slept through it. Then I went to the library and learned more in one day than I'd learned in four years of high school."

* * *

 **New York**

"You got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it!" Mike grinning, untidy hair going every which way. Behind him, his girlfriend, Christa, leaned against the wall, bored.

In front of him, Tim was almost bouncing, he was so excited. "So give it here!"

Mike pulled the bulky book from his backpack, handing Tim the volume. Tim opened it, ancient pages crackling, diagrams and symbols seeming to flicker in the light.

"This is _it_ guys!" he told the small group behind him. "We're gonna _rule_ the streets with this!"

"A stage magicans book," Christa said. "Wow them with rabbits?"

"He wasn't no stage magician, he was the real deal!" Tim said. "Dad had stories, about when that guy tried to go after his kid and he sent… _something_ after him. Nobody's ever seen the guy since. There was other stuff, too and Dad said it all came from this book!"

"So why didn't your dad steal it, before he got caught by the cops?" Christa said.

"Dad was yellow. He said he'd seen things, that one day he was casing the joint and heard Old Man Peterson talking and something talking back even though he was alone. Spooked him. But I'm not scared, and this is going to be _our time!_ _"_ He raised the book once again, the rest of the teens cheering…

And around the book, the air shuddered for a moment, as if it was in pain…


	3. Visitations and Summonings

"You know, it's okay to sulk a little bit," Christine said.

"I—" Claire blushed.

"Because I know that you want to be back, pouring over those tomes, or maybe practicing in the mirror dimension with Wong and the other masters. Wong says that you're one of the better students he's had."

"You—"

"I date Dr. Strange. You pick up some things, especially when an unchained demon interrupts lunch."

"Oh, well, it's just that…"

"That you think you could do better than the good doctor?"

"I—" Claire looked back out the window.

Christine shook her head. "Or that you and your friends are so used to not telling anyone else what you're doing, that you have to do it on your own."

"The trolls know!" Claire protested. She'd eventually told Christine and Doctor Strange everything.

"But they're not your parents, and they're not in a position to do something when you miss school… Or get arrested. In fact, because you can't tell them the truth, I bet they're assuming the worst."

"I—" Claire blinked. _How did the conversation get here?_ "Sort of."

"So take advantage with this. You're a student, taking advanced courses you can't talk about, but nobody'll bat an eye at that—this is _New York_ , home of the first confirmed alien invasion, where vulture men and spidermen duke it out in the streets. Down in Harlem there's a man who can bounce bullets off of his skin and we hav—had, the Avengers downtown."

"And a wizard."

"And a wizard. But right now, until Stephen can send you back, you don't have to worry about that. You don't have to be the _only one_ standing between your homes and the darkness. Take this opportunity to relax, recharge…" Suddenly Christine's voice was serious. "Because take it from someone who works in a very high-tension field, the people who _can_ _'_ _t_ take those opportunities burn out. They start to resent the people around them. And that takes them to a very bad place."

"I'll try." _But I wish he could just have sent me back right away_ _…_

"Good. Now quick check. Where are you from?"

"I was living in Manhattan, but the Chitauri blew up the apartment and hurt my parents, so we moved to California. But now, I'm coming back here for a year, staying with you, because this is my home town."

"Right." Christine nodded. "And we have the documentation to back it up."

"You know," Claire said. "If he could teach me to do that with tardy excuses, it would make life really easy back home…"

"Or you could tell your parents…" Christine smiled. "Maybe declare yourself a super team, like the Avengers?"

"I think that works better if you have a billionaire, legendary super soldier, secret agents, demigod, and a unstoppable hulk, instead of needing to ask permission to go out after curfew…"

"Well," the doctor replied."Never know until you try—and here we are. Midtown High School, home of the best STEM program in the borough."

* * *

"Hail! Hail! The Walker of Darkness! Hail, he of the Shining Trapezoid! We call upon you, the Haunter of the Dark!" Tim raised his hands up, the bloody symbols drawn on the floor. "Avatar of the Crawling Chaos!"

The air suddenly seemed to _twist,_ even as darkness grew in the room, the lights and candles dimming. Mike stepped back. So did the others.

Christa didn't look bored anymore, as she glanced down at the way the blood was gleaming. "Tim… Tim, this isn't what…"

"Not rabbits out of hats, right!" Tim laughed. "I call thee! I call thee! I call thee!"

 **I AM HERE** **…** Something… _rose_ in the circle. It was darkness and indistinct save for a burning, three-lobed eye.

And it was _wrong._ Christa sobbed in terror, before she turned and threw up. Mike stared in horror, while others cried out. Tim stared at it, shivering.

"Yo-you're here, so now you have to serve me, right!"

 **THERE IS NO SACRIFICE. NO TOKEN.**

"What? Look at all the cow's blood!" Tim said.

 **BUT DESIRE IS HERE. AND SO ARE THE _SACRIFICES._** Suddenly, the light vanished completely. Screams filled the room, and then the lights came back up, the stink of burning blood in the air, the symbols of the circle seared into the floor.

"Wait!" Tim shouted. "Come back!"

"Are you fucking insane!" Mike shouted. He lunged forward and grabbed the book. "It's gone and we're going to get rid of this book!"

"Wha-no! Remember what we got the book for!"

"You got the book to do magic!" Christa said, hyperventilating. "Fireballs, stuff out of an MMO…That… That…" She gagged. "That thing was _evil_. No wonder your dad never tried to get it. He wasn't yellow, he was _smart!_ _"_

"Guys?" The three turned towards another member of their group. Hank was short, pudgy and looked like he wanted to faint. "Didn't you hear what it said?"

"What!" Mike snapped.

"'Desire is here. And so are the sacrifices.' What did it mean?"

Suddenly, Christa wasn't looking at Tim. She was looking at the walls, and beyond them, the teeming city surrounding them. "Oh _no_ _…"_


	4. View From a Spider

One great thing about being Spiderman was not needing to sleep that much. It helped after he'd patrolled, done homework and then had to get ready to go to school.

Aunt May really hadn't been a fan of the become a full-time hero thing. In fact, Aunt May had been… _pretty angry_ at Mr. Stark for the whole fight in Germany. After she'd recovered from seeing Peter in his outfit, she'd called Mr. Stark and asked him to come over for a discussion where May could tell him what she thought of his not telling her when he sent "Peter off to risk his life."

She'd used his dad's old baseball bat to drive the point home, fortunately, Mr. Stark was really good at dodging. Peter didn't want to think what would happen if Aunt May had managed to brain Iron Man.

There had been a _long_ discussion after Mr. Stark had stopped dodging Aunt May, and they'd gotten Peter down from the ceiling where he was _totally_ not cowering.

And out of that conversation had come a scary and very wrong agreement between Aunt May and Mr. Stark. Peter was going to be the Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman but…

* * *

 _"That doesn't mean going after the mob, or a superhuman like the Abomination." Tony's eyes were fixed on Peter. "The suit has an emergency call setting for 911 that puts you at the top of the line and another one that gets you a direct line to me—you see people with machine guns, you use it."_

 _"But—"_

 _"You're not bulletproof," Aunt May said, an odd hesitation in her voice. "I won't tell you to not get involved if_ lives _are at risk—I'd never ask you that. But other than that, you can call it in to the police and let them handle it."_

 _"With a higher chance of any charges sticking." Tony was still investigating the dent in the wall where his Aunt had missed him._

 _"You don't think I can…"_

 _"Ferry. Vulture."_

 _Peter shut up._

 _Tony shook his head. "You did great, Peter, you stopped Toomes, but… Like you said, be a_ _Friendly_ _ **Neighborhood** Spiderman."_

 _"And people will be more likely to see you like that if you're not always associated with the kind of property damage Tony Stark is associated with." Aunt May was smiling. Peter really did not like that smile._

 _"Are you going to try and hit me with the bat again?" Tony asked. Peter looked up at the ceiling, once again preparing to head for sanctuary._

 _"You're expecting it now. I'll wait."_

* * *

And here he was. It was actually kinda fun. Mr. Stark had hacked the police frequencies, so Peter was getting a _lot_ better at grabbing people, and just yesterday, he'd stopped a car jacker by webbing the car to the street and the doors shut. None of that compared to the guy he'd saved from jumping to his death last week. The police had tried to talk him down, but he just dove off the building and Peter had managed to catch him in a web net.

It helped that he'd actually had time to _practice_ with his suit and learn its capabilities. Not all of them. He still had Karen, and Dronie, as well as some of the new webshooter features, but not instakill mode.

Instakill mode freaked him out.

Peter touched down a block away from the school, stashed the suit in his backpack, though he kept the webshooters on. With that he started jogging to the school to touch bases with Ned and say hi to MJ.

It was then that Peter paused, staring at the girl who had just gotten out of the car, a backpack on her shoulder, multi-colored clips and a single white stripe in her dark hair.

 _It's the middle of the year…_ Peter thought. _Is she a new girl? She looks a little lost._

"Hi!" Peter said as he walked to her. "I'm Peter Parker, are you new here?"


	5. Meetings, Discussions, and Horrors

Claire was standing where Christine had left her, feeling intimidated if she was honest with herself.

 _Why? I've fought trolls, I've nearly drowned, I've… Never gone to a school like this._

Claire had to admit it. New York was a _lot_ different then Arcadia. The people, the endless buildings… In Arcadia, you could practically walk out of the town into the woods.

But not here. Even in Christine's neighborhood, there was a never ending sound of people and cars, any time of the day or night, the lights of the city stabbing up into the increasingly cool skies, as Autumn turned to Winter.

And here she was, Claire, defeater of Angor Rot, apprentice to Doctor Strange…

Acting like she was getting ready to run away.

"Hi!" Claire turned at the voice, to see a gangly looking teen walking up to her. "I'm Peter Parker, are you new here?"

"Yeah, I moved back to New York." Claire smiled. "Our apartment sort of got smashed by a space whale."

"Ouch." Peter shook his head. "Well, welcome to school. You here for the STEM program?"

"Yeah…" Claire smiled. "Christine, she's the lady who watching after me until my parents move here, said it's one of the best in the state. Since she's a neurosurgeon…"

"It is—Hey, MJ!" Peter gestured at an attractive, brown haired girl. "This is a new student! Maybe she'd be interested in the club?"

"I…" Claire closed her mouth with a pang of loneliness. Peter reminded her of a cross between Jim and Toby. "I need to get my feet under me first." She smiled. "I'm new here and well, I just… When I left things were a bit crazy."

"Crazy?" MJ asked.

"Her apartment got blown up by the Chitauri." Peter supplied.

"Ouch. Well, we don't have a vulture running around here any more."

"Vulture?" Claire paused and tried to remember which one—oh, right. "Yeah, that must have been pretty strange."

"It really was, but at least we had a Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman to save the day… Right MJ?"

"Dork." MJ rolled her eyes. "Don't mind him, he's a superhero fanboy."

"I won't. So, what teachers do I need to look out for…"

Claire felt better as Peter and MJ started to chat. At least _school_ might feel sort of normal.

* * *

Ms. Klien lived alone. Her son had moved away, her husband dead. The woman didn't have many friends. She walked up the long stairwell to her apartment, fumbling with her key, when the lights went out.

"Oh, Damn it," she muttered. "Why doesn't the super ever fix things here. I'm paying…" Her voice trailed off as she smelled something. Something… foul. Decaying.

"He… hello?" She said to the dark hallway. Nothing. No sound. But there was a feeling of danger.

She fumbled with the keys, frantic now, to unlock the locks that were now keeping her from safety.

Finally, the last lock was undone. She pulled the door open.

To reveal blackness, and a single three-lobed eye, burning in the night.

Klien didn't even have a chance to scream.

* * *

"I'm not liking this," Strange muttered.

"The wards protecting earth were damaged by Kaecilius, but they are now being healed." Wong pointed out. The two were staring at a complex image of the globe, floating in his mansion, glyphs filling the air around it.

"Yes, but before that, they weren't, which is what pulled Claire here. And every intrusion weakened the wards a little more." Strange gestured at the image. "It's going to take time to fully restore them, and in that time, things can slip through."

"Even now, something would have to be very powerful to come through of its own accord, and we would see that."

"What if something was _invited_?"

"The books."

"Books, rituals, hell, Wong, you know that without our wards, even an _Ouija Board_ could call something nasty." Strange shook his head. It was amazing how many foolish superstitions, "opening your mind to the spheres" stuff that he once had dismissed as New Age foolishness was only _safe_ due to a metaphorical wall that was around earth. Because of that wall, only the truly talented—and foolish—could get into real trouble.

But now… "Yeah. That stuff is pretty minor, we can cleanse it, and most people with any kind of will power could fight it off. But real rituals? There was a period where almost anyone could have sent out a call…"

"And depending on what answered…"

"We could be in real trouble."


End file.
